Some time ago, while sending out Rhys Chatham's "Die Donnergotter" overthe college airwaves, I got a call. I had expected another barelycontained "WHAT IS THIS?? IT'S...AWESOME!," which had become theregular response (maybe I played the song too much). Instead, my"Hello?" received the sleepyheaded reply, "Is this, uh, Trans Am?"Aside from the fact that a first-time Chatham listener will have beenexposed to legions of his influenced before hearing the man himself(most hear even Branca before his mentor), Chatham's work sounds a bitold-fashioned, ironically, because of what it has accomplished. Hisfusion of post-modern art music ("contemporary classical," "new-music,"whatever) with rock music sounds great, but it does not create worksthat enjoy unlimited movement between their poles of origin. Chathamwrites extensively about the critical climate of the '70s and '80s inthe 140-page book that accompanies An Angel Moves Too Fast to See,describing in detail the newfound flexibility and freedom along genrelines that composers enjoyed at the time. And while this all makessense, explaining how he came to write the music and perform this newmusic, it does not change the fact that Chatham's music will alwaysbelong to the classical tradition. This is not to say that the composerhad not gone to great lengths to separate his music from the universitysound lab, the ivory tower of academicism threatening art music throughthe late '60s. If anything, Chatham's music is not challenging enough.Still, despite his enlisting New York rock scene players (ThurstonMoore and Lee Renaldo among others) to perform his music and choosingto perform in many popular NY rock clubs, Chatham remains a "composer."The length and scope of his works contrast rock composition, especiallypunk rock composition; likewise, the spectacle and performer/audiencedynamic of a Chatham piece is necessarily different than that of aRamones show. Whether this would or would not be the case in a perfectworld cannot change Chatham's place as an "art-music composer" (who,yes, utilized rock instrumentation and technique). As such, itsimpossible to approach his work without any preconceptions about theperformative aspect of the music or without imagining its place withina lineage, however ill-conceived, of "important" 20th centurycompositions. The merits of this box have not gone unappreciated; the least of which,behind the sheer unavailability of many of these legendary Chathamcompositions and the beautiful package (decorated with Robert Longo'sphotography), is, surprisingly, the earliest of the compositionsincluded. "Two Gongs," an hour-long piece from 1971 that takes up theentire first disc of the box, is a gem of minimalist composition, andis reason enough to sing Chatham's praises. Performed by the composerand Yoshimasa Wada on two large Chinese gongs, the music swells andclangs, an ocean of squirming metal capable of simulating heroin stuporand root canal in equal measure. Should you remain convinced thatnothing will top Branca's guitar symphonies and wary that this box setmay prove you wrong, Table of the Elements has kindly released A Rhys Chatham Compendium,a single-disc sampler for the box that contains much of Chatham's bestwork, including "Die Donnergotter" and an excerpt from "Two Gongs."
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